Hurry Up and Heal, V-Mart and Pedey!

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but there really hasn't been that much to say that I haven't already said a bazillion times before. I try to keep the faith (i.e. hope for a miracle), but the realist in me knows that the Sox can't afford to keep playing like they have until the injured game-changers in Pedey and V-Mart come back. Not in the toughest division in baseball. Too many opportunities are being wasted, especially with runners in scoring position and on days when both the Rays and the Yankees lose. The bullpen is still a big problem and Bowden has yet to prove he can get the job done in a close game.

Buchholz returned to the rotation today and the rust was showing throughout his 5-pitch outing. He gave up 2 dingers, one of them for 2 runs, and pitched into a lot of deep counts. This is all understandable, since he hadn't pitched in almost a month. Beckett will probably have the same problem when he pitches on Friday. Even when the team is healthy, it has trouble playing on the West Coast, no matter how weak the teams are. On the bright side, Lowrie did very well in his return to the lineup, especially at the plate, where he reached base 3 times out of 4 and drove in a run. He made a throwing error in the field, but his work at the plate more than made up for it. I only wish he were starting in place of Hall rather than Scoots.

Back to V-Mart and Pedey: The catcher's spot has been a black hole, both offensively and defensively (passed balls, anyone?) since both V-Mart and Tek went down. V-Mart was also a potent weapon against southpaws. Pedey is the heart and soul of this team, as well as the spark plug. He puts on the best at-bats on the team and makes a pitcher work hard to get him out. He puts both the "laser" and the "show" in laser show and if I had to name one favorite player on the Red Sox, it would be him. The sooner both of these players get back, the better. I only hope it's not too late to catch the Yankees and/or Rays. In the meantime, the guys who aren't on the DL need to step it up and play better baseball!

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! PLEASE PLAY BETTER IN SEATTLE!!!